This article exposes how former Shizuoka governor Heita Kawakatsu obstructed Japan’s Linear Shinkansen project while maintaining unusually close ties with Chinese officials. China, having already stolen Japan’s maglev technology and aiming to launch its own 600 km/h line by 2035, needed to delay Japan’s progress. Frequent visits by the Chinese ambassador, praise from Wang Yi, and even a meeting with Xi Jinping suggest deeper motives. Meanwhile, the Asahi Shimbun conceals China’s involvement, misleading readers into seeing the issue only through environmental arguments. A critical look at how Japan’s national interests and intellectual property were undermined.

Kawakatsu’s Crime — China Plans to Sell Its Own Maglev, but First Must Stop Japan from Moving Ahead

May 9, 2024

The following is from Takayama Masayuki’s serial column that concludes the latest issue of Shukan Shincho, released today.
This essay again proves that he is the one-and-only journalist in the postwar world.
It is essential reading not only for the Japanese people but for people around the world.

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Kawakatsu’s Crime

Heita Kawakatsu graduated from Waseda University and studied at Oxford.
In Shizuoka he is considered an elite, yet he always smelled fishy.

He told new prefectural employees that they were not like people who sell vegetables or tend cows—they were expected to use their brains.
Was he trying to boast that he was the super-elite at the top of that brainy group?
Some say it was an inferiority complex toward the University of Tokyo.
In Japan, Oxford is treated like a foreign third-rate university, and people see him as just another Waseda graduate.

Because of that resentment, he constantly boasted about being an elite, different from the rest.
When he ran for governor, he rejected the LDP’s invitation and instead ran from the Democratic Party—the nightmare party.
The LDP, for better or worse, is a Japanese party.
Even within homogeneous Japanese society, there are slight shifts left and right.
These shifts were absorbed through factions.

Parties beyond that range are the Communist Party and the Democratic Party.
Thus naturalized citizens and dual nationals fit right in.
Kawakatsu chose a party outside the norm.
Did he think being abnormal was proof of being elite?

When he took office, Kawakatsu immediately rejected the Linear Shinkansen.
He declared that he would not allow it to cross the Ōigawa River.

The “Nozomi” Shinkansen does not stop in Shizuoka.
The Linear Shinkansen would not stop either.
Half-baked elites hate being ignored.

There is talk that China’s foreign minister Wang Yi traveled all the way to Shizuoka to praise him:
“Excellent. That’s what an elite does.”

In the Ming dynasty, the scholar Fang Xiaoru stubbornly refused to recognize the Yongle Emperor as legitimate.
In anger, the emperor killed 800 of Fang’s paternal relatives, then his mother’s relatives, then his wife’s relatives, yet Fang would not yield.
Eventually all his acquaintances were also executed.

The Ming dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, a former monk-turned-bandit.
Who cared about the bloodline of such a dynasty’s emperor?
Yet Fang Xiaoru insisted on a strange point of principle.
For some reason, the Chinese praise such troublesome behavior.

Kawakatsu, who loves China, followed suit and resisted, leading JR to abandon the 2027 opening of the Linear Shinkansen.
Then he resigned, saying “My mission is accomplished.”

In the Asahi Shimbun’s letter-to-the-editor section, there was a submission praising Kawakatsu.
The 75-year-old author sincerely worried about the natural environment of the Ōigawa River, and then argued—like Fang Xiaoru—“In an era of population decline and economic shrinkage, is an ultra-high-speed train full of tunnels really meaningful?”

It is clear the contributor believes Asahi’s articles to be the absolute truth.
One wishes they would also read other papers, like Sankei Shimbun.

Because ever since the time of Wakamiya Yoshibumi, the Asahi has stopped reporting the essential things altogether.
During the Kake Gakuen issue, Asahi intentionally omitted the Diet testimony of former Ehime governor Kado that denied Abe’s alleged involvement.

The Linear Shinkansen is no different.
Japan National Railways’ Kyoya Yoshiyasu developed it as the world’s first next-generation high-speed transport system.
Then China appeared.

They have no morals.
They even stole Japan’s Shinkansen technology and shamelessly sold it worldwide as a Chinese brand.

They have already stolen Linear Shinkansen technology, bought up engineers, and their test line has already reached 600 km/h.
They aim to open a Shanghai–Hangzhou–Ningbo line in 2035.

China intends to sell a Chinese-branded maglev.
But to do that, they must stop Japan, which is ahead.

That is why the Chinese ambassador to Japan made frequent visits to the governor’s office, and Wang Yi whispered something to him.
Kawakatsu also traveled to China, where Xi Jinping granted him a special meeting.

At his retirement press conference, Kawakatsu said:
“(The JR Linear opening) will be delayed by 13 years to 2037. A major milestone has been achieved.”

The Linear Shinkansen was fundamentally an issue of Japan’s national interest and intellectual property.
Kawakatsu crushed it.

Yet Asahi did not write a single line about China’s involvement in Kawakatsu’s actions.
By not writing about it, they narrow their readers’ vision so that they can see only the number of tunnels.
By excluding China, they incite readers to think:
“What’s the rush anyway?”

The Asahi is laughing at its own readers who embarrass themselves by posting such letters.